Benchmarks continue to remain in red zone for fourth straight day, Sensex falls 152 points

Mumbai: Sliding for the fourth straight day, the BSE Sensex shed 152 points in choppy trade on Wednesday amid mixed global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision.

The rupee tumbling to yet another lifetime low against the US dollar and unabated foreign capital outflows also weighed on the bourses, traders said.

The BSE benchmark oscillated between gains and losses in a range-bound session, before finally closing 152.18 points or 0.29 per cent lower at 52,541.39, an over 10-month low. The index has now lost 2,778.89 points in four days.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined by 39.95 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 15,692.15.

NTPC was the top laggard in the 30-share Sensex pack, declining 2.02 per cent, followed by Infosys, Reliance Industries, Wipro, HUL, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid and ITC.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, SBI, Asian Paints and M&M were among the gainers, climbing as much as 4.24 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap gauge gained 0.52 per cent and the smallcap index jumped 0.49 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, power fell the most by 0.91 per cent, followed by energy (0.82 per cent), oil & gas (0.81 per cent), utilities (0.79 per cent), teck (0.67 per cent) and realty (0.62 per cent). Auto, industrials, consumer discretionary goods & services and capital goods were among the gainers.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1 per cent to $120 per barrel.

The rupee plunged 18 paise to close at a fresh all-time low of 78.22 against the US dollar on Wednesday.